MA Voluntary Sector Studies by Distance Learning

Application Details

The Department of Voluntary Sector Studies is not currently recruiting onto this course. However, we hope to recruit again soon - please contact Rachel Casiday to register your interest and be kept informed of developments. Please refer to the guidance notes and then complete the application form.

Programme Aims

The postgraduate programme in Voluntary Sector Studies is designed for people who want to develop and improve their knowledge and work in the not-for-profit, non-governmental, non-profit, third, community and voluntary sector.   The programme is intended to develop the student’s knowledge, skills, abilities and capability to combine contemporary theory with practical knowledge. Students are expected to engage critically with a range of issues related to the role of the voluntary sector in society and to working in and with the voluntary/not-for-profit sector.  Students will develop the skills and abilities needed to influence change within the voluntary sector and wider public policy debates, based on sound academic knowledge and reflection on their practical experience.
    
The programme is designed to be academically rigorous and coherent in building and developing the following skills.

• Professionalism in working in or with the not-for-profit and voluntary sector.
• Critical knowledge and understanding of the roles and functions of the not-for-profit and voluntary sector/s.
• Critical and analytical skills in reflecting on policy and change affecting the sector, professional knowledge and practical experience.
• Knowledge and understanding of contemporary academic literature.
• Practical knowledge related to policy and practice within the sector.
• The ability to respond to changes in the capacity of the sector, the work being undertaken by it and to changing community needs.
• The ability to undertake independent research and/or evaluations.
• The ability to contribute to the needs of the organisation/s students are involved in and the communities they serve.
• The ability to undertake further study and/or career progression.
• A comprehensive knowledge of the theories, policies, practices and contemporary challenges affecting the sector. 

Course Delivery & Assessment

The PG Dip is to be offered primarily by distance learning, supported by a VLE platform (Moodle) and a termly residential course.

Distance learning via VLE (Moodle)

For each module, the following will be provided on the Moodle platform:

• Module description and handbook
• Recommended texts for purchase (these will also be made available for borrowing from the departmental library, and wherever possible Netbooks subscriptions to core texts will be purchased and available for remote use by students)
• A series of ‘Sessions,’ each consisting of an Introduction, a list of learning outcomes, key readings (readings not included in core textbooks will be provided through e-journal subscriptions or as pdf files, coordinated through UWL library services to ensure copyright compliance), written commentary to guide students through the readings, quizzes or other learning activities to allow students to demonstrate their mastery of learning outcomes
  
• A discussion forum, in which instructors will periodically present questions for discussion in addition to topics raised by students themselves
  
• Module assignments, deadlines and online submission form
  
• Name(s) and contact details for the instructor(s) responsible for the module

In addition, general information relevant to the course, e.g. instructors’ and administrative contact information, links to academic regulations, term dates, etc. will be provided by Moodle.

Residentials

Each core module will include one weekend (Friday to Sunday) residential, for which attendance is compulsory. Residential instruction is considered a vital component of the MA, in order to provide opportunities for face-to-face instruction, student presentations and student networking. The format of the residentials may vary from module to module, but will typically contain several hours of lectures or seminars, one or more study skills workshops, individual tutorials and social events.

Optional modules may contain a residential component, at the discretion of the module coordinator.

Exemptions may be granted on medical or employer’s evidence, with permission from the Chair of Examiners or the VSS Postgraduate Programme Director. When an exemption from a residential is granted, the student may be required to do additional work in order to demonstrate mastery of the learning outcomes for the residential.

Other

Direct teaching in the form of individual tutorial support takes place on an ad-hoc basis as requested by students.

Although VSS does not currently operate a workbased learning programme in the sense of working directly with employers to provide tailored learning and supervision experience, VSS does have longstanding experience teaching reflective practice, relating assignments to students’ work or volunteering experience and supervising dissertations undertaken in students’ own organisations. This involves ensuring that students are aware of confidentiality requirements and the need to secure permission and support for undertaking research in or writing about their organisation as part of their coursework, encouraging students (provided that confidentiality and permission are in place) to reflect on their own work/volunteering and how it relates to the issues presented in modules, and emphasizing reflexivity, for instance, in research methods teaching, to develop awareness of how students’ roles as student, researcher and practitioner will impact one another, both beneficially and as potential conflicts of interest.

VSS is engaged in ongoing work to develop and pilot other forms of workbased learning, which may eventually form an optional route to part of the PG Dip / MA VSS.

Assessment

Assessment will consist primarily of essays, projects and portfolio assignments, with some modules also requiring presentations at the residentials. The PGDip modules will not have any assessment by examination.

Course Content

Core modules

• The Voluntary Sector in Society (20 credits) - Develops your understanding of the definitions, features and roles of the voluntary/not-for-profit sector in relation to the state, regulation, and the communities served.
  
  
• Frameworks for Research (10 credits) - This module will provide you with an overview of the research process for social sciences, with a particular emphasis on applied research in organisations.
   
• Tools for Social Research (10 credits) - Provides practical instruction in methods of study design, data collection and analysis.
  
  
• Contemporary Issues in Voluntary Sector Studies (20 credits) - Students will become familiar and engage critically with current theoretical debates related to the sector.

Optional modules (subject to modification):

• Activism and Community Participation (20 credits) - This module examines activism and community participation at local, national and global levels.  It will also introduce the student to participatory research.
  
  
• Environment and Social Responsibility (20 credits) - This module provides the opportunity to critically review the meaning and relevance of these issues; as related to governments, religion, corporate business, the community and the individual.
  
  
• Globalisation and the Political Economy of Change (20 credits) - This module examines, from a political economy perspective, change and its importance to the voluntary sector through a critical examination of globalisation and its ideological underpinnings.
  
  
• Health Care and Health Promotion (20 credits) - Discusses, through contemporary and historical case studies, definitions of health and well-being, health of vulnerable groups, individual and social approaches to health provision and promotion, health as a universal human right and the role of voluntary organisations in health provision.
  
  
• Humanitarianism and International Development (20 credits) - Theoretical and practical introduction to international development work, including economic development theory, consequences for other areas of life, tensions between short-term humanitarian relief and long-term development, politics of development NGOs, coping with disasters, and culturally appropriate interventions.
  
  
• Institutional Development of Voluntary Organisations (20 credits) - Will examine the changing institutional structure of voluntary organisations, their growth and growing national and internationalisation, changing governance and the shifting internal importance of volunteers, employees and managers.

For further information, please contact Dr. Rachel Casiday